This podcast is part of the Trask 250 series which documents the lives of more than 250 formerly enslaved of the Trask and Ventress families of Louisiana and Mississippi. It’s also available as a blog post.
The Marriage of Eliza Lawrence Trask and John Gallison Tappan
Source: Newspapers.com
Source: American Antiquarian Society
Profile, care of History of Amherst College During It’s First Half Century, William Seymour Tyler, 1873
1894: Death record for Eliza Lawrence Trask Tappan in Brookline, MA, noting her parents, Israel Elliot Trask and Elizabeth Carter, and her husband, John Gallison Tappan.
Source: Massachusetts, Death Records, 1841-1915, Ancestry.com
The Tappan Brothers and Their Legacy as Abolitionists
Source: Library of Congress
Source: National Park Service
Source: Library of Congress
Sundry Links:
- About the Amistad case, care of the National Archives
- About the Amistad Committee, care of the National Park Service
- Historical Celebration of the Town of Brimfield, Hampden County, Mass, Charles McEwen Hyde, 1879, care of the Internet Archive
- Regina Shober Gray Diary entry, 1878, care of New England Historic and Genealogical Society
Elias Carter House Bed and Breakfast, located in Brimfield, MA
The Trask Family and Their Legacy of Slaveholding
January 1, 1839: James Lawrence Trask of Wilkinson, MS obtains a loan from his niece, Eliza L. Trask, of New York, NY, in the amount of $17,000, due in 4 notes with 7% interest. As collateral, James put up LaGrange Plantation (4,100+ acres) and the lives of 198 enslaved people. Source: FamilySearch. Wilkinson County, MS Deed Book L, pages 413-415.
May 31, 1822: James Lawrence Trask, of Wilkinson, MS secures a bond for $140,000 due to his brother Israel E. Trask of Springfield, MA, due in 10 notes with 6% interest, fulfillment of repayment by 1832, collateral of LaGrange Plantation and 150 enslaved people. James did not pay back the loan by the time Israel died in 1835. This should have meant that the 150 enslaved would have become the property of Israel, a man living in the north, in any other circumstance.
Source: FamilySearch. Wilkinson County, MS Deed Book C, Pages 250-253
1836: Estate Inventory, Israel Elliot Trask, June 13, 1836, with a second page that notes the $140,000 debt of James Lawrence Trask. It’s equivalent to more than $3.2 million today.
Source: Hampden County, Massachusetts. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Ancestry.com
1849: Administrators account for the estate of Israel Trask notes several “legacy” accounts established for the children of the deceased living in the north, funded by slavery in the south. Notation of “Cash paid Mrs. Eliza L. Tappan balance of legacy, $1,752.72.”
Source: Hampden County, Massachusetts. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Ancestry.com
1835: Will of Israel Elliot Trask, October 12, 1835, noting payment of $30,000 to his wife, Elizabeth Carter Trask. Further down, provision is set for his his children Israel Carter Trask, William Elliot Trask, Edward Trask, Elizabeth (Eliza) Lawrence Trask Tappan, Sarah Trask Onderdonk.
Source: Hampden County, Massachusetts. Massachusetts, Wills and Probate Records, 1635-1991, Ancestry.com